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4 stars
Version: Golden Records 1.22
"Surprisingly simple & high quality vinyl conversion"
Pros: Super-simple to set up and use; amazing results; can directly patch the turntable into your PC's audio input without the use of a preamp or stereo amp; unattended operation; can record 78s without a 78-capable turntable!
Cons: It's a bit clunky on my Mac G4 with 2GB of RAM and tons of HD space but still effective nonetheless; can't manually control the balance - they're tied together; the input level slider does nothing - must use the adj. in Mac's sound settings
Summary: I was surprised at how easy it is to figure out and use this app. It's built-in Wizard walks you though the main steps needed for good results. Be careful setting the quality level too high - you'll end up with mp3s of colossal size. Rather ordinary[160kb stereo] settings gave me remarkable results. I set it at 128~256 VBR to see what that would do but again the files ended up much too large for normal iPod use. The converted quality of the vinyl was very impressive to me, and I have a keen ear for vinyl's anomalies. I was shocked at how large & impressive the sound was in digital form. Be wary of setting up too many "filters" in the inital config - these not only complicate and slow down your recordings' post processing exponentially, but can also interfere with the intended audible experience. Perhaps use those settings with prejudice - such as with a worn disc. I use only the RIAA compensator that enables me to patch my turntable directly into the Mac without the need for an amp or preamp. I've so far only captured vinyl with this method and am blown away with the vinyl's warmth that was maintained in the digital copy. Tomorrow I'm going to download and try the same app on one of my PC laptops with my Technics going through a proper amplifier just to see how it compares with the un-amplified Mac experience.
One caveat - after first installing it on the Mac and then launching the app, after configuring it using the Wizard, it suddenly crashed. I rebooted the Mac and it seems to be doing OK since then. Also, once when I had split two run-together songs that it had made into a single track, the split versions didn't show up in the destination folder but they were present in the Golden Records' window and could be selected from there. They never did arrive in the destination folder. Other splits & joins have worked fine otherwise.
If this app works as good or better on my PC, I'm going to buy it without looking further.
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